Psychological treatment for family members of children with cancer: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Objective: This meta-analytical study examined the effects of psychological treatments applied to family members of children and adolescents with cancer, as well as the characteristics of the studies that can be associated with their effects. the references of the located studies were reviewed, and emails were sent to experts in this topic. Forty articles fulfilled the selection criteria. The standardized mean pretest-posttest (or pretest-follow-up) change was used as the effect-size index for the treatment and control groups. Results: The 40 articles included 40 treatment groups and 21 control groups. When treatment and control pretest-posttest mean effects were compared, psychological interventions revealed positive, statistically significant results for anxiety (d adj = 0.339) and problem-solving skills (d adj = 0.385) and, to a lesser extent, for posttraumatic stress (d adj = 0.224). No statistically significant differences were found for mood (d adj = 0.147), acute stress (d adj = −0.010), coping skills (d adj = 0.123), social support (d adj = 0.245), or quality of life (d adj = 0.538).Conclusions: Positive effects of mild to moderate magnitude were found in the posttests for some outcome measures. Behavioral interventions seem to be the most promising. Interventions achieved the best results when they were long in duration and low in intensity and when they were applied to family members with young children who were undergoing medical treatment. At follow-up, the intervention benefits were diminished. The application of psychological interventions is recommended to mitigate the negative psychological repercussions in this population.

A moment just for me – parents’ experiences of an intervention for person-centred information in paediatric oncology

“…A core activity in paediatric oncology nursing is ensuring that parents are well-informed about the child's disease and treatment, but this can be challenging (Landier et al, 2016). Many current interventions are directed towards parents managing their emotional reactions to their child's illness through psychoeducation and psychosocial support (Sánchez-Egea et al, 2019;Tang et al, 2020). Few studies, however, focus on informational intervention for parents (Landier et al, 2016).…”

Social Support Received and Provided in the Adjustment of Parents of Children With Cancer

“…1 Once the child's cancer is diagnosed, family dynamics are altered, leading on some occasions to disruptions that make some families require special care in facing such complex situations. 2,3 Childhood cancer affects deeply the family system for long periods of time, and it also affects the quality of life of such families. [4][5][6] These disruptions can remain throughout time 7 and affect parents' relation with the rest of family members.…”

La resiliencia de los padres de niños con cáncer y su importancia en el manejo del estrés y la satisfacción vital

“…Conocer la relación existente entre la resiliencia con el estrés y la satisfacción vital de los padres puede tener importantes implicaciones prácticas en el diseño de las intervenciones que mejoren su calidad de vida. Es necesario el tratamiento de los aspectos psicosociales para mejorar la calidad de vida de los padres de niños enfermos con cáncer (33) . Para poder planificar actuaciones realmente eficaces en este sentido, se hace necesario conocer qué relación guardan las variables psicosociales implicadas en el proceso (34) .…”